Pa P e r o f t h e S o c i a l i S t Pa r t y i S S u e 148 SePtember 2022 join The socialisT parTy www.socialistparty.ie TheSocialist Dou ble- Digit Pay in Creas es now! Pro fitee rs fu el infl atio n Cr isis: Cost of Living Pre-Budget Protests: Cork: 2pm, Saturday 17 September, Grand Parade Dublin: 2.30pm, Saturday 24 September, Parnell Square
People in ireland pay as much as 70% more for irish goods than is charged in the uK While it is already clear that supermarkets are profiting from the cost of living crisis, this is perhaps the most blatant example there is no reason for goods like Sudocrem or Dair ygold to be cheaper abroad than they are here, it only demonstrates just how high companies are jacking up prices 55% of inflation caused by profiteering research by the uS economic Policy institute showed that since 2020, 55% of uS inflation had been caused by corporate profiteering european central bank board member Dr isabel Schnabel backed up this analysis in a speech and indicated it was ver y much applicable to europe as well, and no doubt it's the case in ireland, too
Cost of living: We suffer, they profit
oil giant bP just made its highest quarterly profit in 14 years
It is evident that Ireland ’ s government, inc luding the supposed ly environmen t a l i s t G re e n Pa r t y, w i l l f ac i l i t a t e t h e interests and profits of big business at the expense of the working c lass and of the environment, e ven as our envi ron m e n t a l c r i s i s wo r s e n s W h i l e we c a n , a n d a b s o l u t e l y s h o u l d , c r i t i c i s e t h e ac t i on s o f t h e Ir i s h go ve r n m e n t , we should recognise this is a natur al c on s e q u e n c e o f t h e p ro fi t d r i ve n c a p i t a l i s t s y s t e m we l i ve i n C a p i t a l ism’s inherent pr ior itisation of profit r uns against the interests of the work i n g c l a s s a n d t h e we l l b e i n g o f t h e environment We must demand a moratorium on the constr uction of data centres, and that these companies be brought into democratic public ownership linked to a public l y owned electr ic gr id that is based on renewable energ y W hen data is collected, it should not be misused for the purposes of sur veillance, social control, advertising and mass manipu lation On this basis we can also reduce the amount of energ y that is wasted in the pursuit of profit It is only when energ y is democrati cally and public ly owned and planned by the working c lass, completel y di vorced from the motive of profit, that the interests of workers and the envi ronment can be placed at the forefront no to data centres, yes to public green energy infrastructure
Moneylending vultures
marlboro retail ltd, based in cork, is a money lender with a two week waiting period now thanks to a massive surge in demand, the examiner repor ted the company s now wor th tens of millions People are desperate to make ends meet, and companies like this are only too happy to give out highly profitable high interest loans according to the examiner, a €100 oan from marlboro retail ltd, paid over a year, costs €154 in total Supermarkets cash in Supermarket sales are now 12% higher than before the pandemic, hanks in par t to people eating out less tesco is estimating that it will reap between £2 4 billion and £2 6 billion from its operations across i reland and the uK this year i ts profits before the pandemic pre tax were £1 1 billion meanwhile data analytics company K antar estimates rising prices will add €453 to the average annual grocer y bill, a figure over €100 higher than predic ted in may Higher costs
The energy boom british Petroleum made €8 37 billion between april and June this year alone thanks to high oil prices this was the company ’s biggest quar terly profit in 14 years and will result in some €4 7 billion being handed to shareholders in bonuses the same is true of the rest of the ‘big five’ oil companies, which altogether made profits of €59 billion meanwhile, the combined cost of electricity and gas bills for irish households is set to increase from €1,900 a year to something closer to €3,300 annually ESB joins in even the eSb, a state owned energy company, is joining in on the profiteering their prices continue to ratchet up even as they earn record profits of €679 million the government is only now talking about taking an increased dividend from the company, but this does nothing to alleviate the immediate problem of people who are facing a choice between heating or eating this winter. eSb must be made to operate on a break even basis something which would have no cost to the taxpayer Amazon exploitation machine amazon, a company which has seen soaring profits since the pandemic, has recently opened the first of its notoriously exploitative “fulfillment centres” in ireland in 2021 alone, it better than doubled its profits jumping from $21 3 billion to $54 7 billion meanwhile, its workers suffer from low pay and over work its irish division's after tax profits tripled to €51 5 million even as they laid off staff
By Jonathan Diebold by Summer conneely A s o f 2022, we are cur rentl y in the midst of a worsening global energ y cr isis, with rapid and steep in creases in the pr ices of almost all for ms of energ y. T he reasons for this are numerous, ranging from sanctions imposed on Russia following Putin’s invasion of U kraine, to temporar y shutdowns of nuc lear power plants caused by cor rosion in nuc lear reac tors, to droughts in areas of hydro electr icity production. Regard less of the c auses of these price increases, the brunt of the impact is being put onto ordinar y people, with, for example, Electric Ireland having re cently implemented their fourth price increase of the year This is a cumula tive increase of 67% for electr icit y pr ices, and 93% for gas pr ices, com pared to the same time in 2021, and there is no sign of these pr ice hikes coming to an end any time soon Data centres growing W ith this context to the worsening cri sis in energ y supplies both globally and in Ireland, we must ask why Ireland ’ s government has continuall y allowed data centres to create a growing burden on our electr icit y Data centres are buildings and spaces used to house ser vers and computer sy stems which collect, store, and distribute data Data centres are typically large scale opera tions requiring a large amount of elec tr icit y and infrastr ucture to r un Globally, data centres make up approx imatel y 1 2% of electricit y consump tion, however, last year within Ireland they made up 14% of the countr y ’ s en erg y usage This number is projected to rise to 29% by 2028 This enormous electricity consumption by data centres has drawn opposition from environmentalists and the socialist left, particularly as Ireland’s electr icit y is largel y generated from non renewable sources In March 2022, an amendment to S outh D ublin County Council’s 2022 2028 develop ment plan was passed which banned the further planning and construction of data centres in the area during the 2022 to 2028 per iod Howe ver, F ine Gael Minister of S tate for P lanning Peter Burke has recentl y ordered the council to re verse this ban S imilar l y, Taoiseach Micheál Mar tin has con firmed that there be no prevention on the further planning or construction of data centres in Ireland What’s the alternative?
While ordinary people struggle with the skyrocketing cost of living, many companies are making record profits This is no coincidence: it is precisely because prices are so high that they are making such profits
The energy crisis is going from bad to worse under this coalition government
The socialist Cost of
living Crisis2
The stark realit y is that this couldn’t b e fur ther from the truth a reality that this Govern ment refuses to ack nowledge, let alone ac t on. 2022 saw an increase of €100 to the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance While this increase was welcomed to ease the pressure for many families, the move is flawed for many reasons: 1 A once off token payment is a sticking plaster on the already spiralling cost of living and does nothing to address the root cause of this crisis and the profiteering of big companies such as publishers who have a monopoly on Irish school book publication 2 This additional €100 is only available to those who already qualify for the payment excluding half a million children in the country, many already on the breadline 3
three biggest grocer y retailers with ap proximately 66% (€11 6 billion) of the market divided between them, followed by Lid l and Aldi who take about 26% (€4 2 billion)
Food costs skyrocket price controls now!
The G overnment can bring in emergenc y legislation to bring down prices EU competition laws prevent the ESB, a state owned company, to run on a non for profit basis
The income levels to qualify for the payment have not increased, while wages remain stagnant and food costs, rents and utilities continue to skyrocket
Back to school costs we need real free education
The most minimum intervention necessary is the provision of a retrospective payment for all families with school going children to alleviate the hardship of back to school costs Ireland is bottom of the class in the EU for percentage spend of GDP on primary and secondary education (2 16%) We need to follow the example of other EU countries, such as France and Belgium, and provide books and materials free to all students We need to see an end to the draconian ‘voluntary’ payments parents have to make to schools yearly Public pressure forced the government to increase the Back to School Allowance We cannot afford to let up on this pressure We have seen the power of a working class movement to create change, such as the water charges movement It is this same movement that is needed now to demand action, to demand genuinely free education for all, wage increases and caps on exorbitant living costs by cathal curran w oRkeRs
Cost of living Crisis The socialist 3 by marie claire Jennequin F R E E E D U C AT I O N in I reland?
AnD their families are facing a devastating winter as the cost of living crisis is set to in tensify and fur ther squeeze people al ready barely making ends meet T he newest dagger pierced into the already swiss cheese like backs of workers was when Air tricity announced that it was increasing the price of the electricity it supplies by over 35% and gas by 39% There have been over 50 similar price increases set forth by various en erg y supply companies since the star t of 2021 On average, electricity bills are now around €900 more expensive than they were in 2020, and gas bills have increased by over €800, with more price r ises almost cer tainl y on the way, if nothing is done to prevent it Freezing or eating Not only will this result in some fami lies having to choose between freezing and eating, but an increase to the cost of energ y will push the prices of ever y day items up as well, as ever y commod ity requires electricity in its production W ith the lack of price controls, corpo rations are free to pass on these in creases to consumers to ensure their profits are maintained and they c an continue to engorge their shareholder ’ s bank accounts with dividends SSE Airtricity Ireland paid its UK based parent company SSE a dividend of €115 million last year SSE itself re ported a 15% increase in profit to £1 5 billion Profits at Bord Gáis were up 74% in the first half of this year to £33 million and their owner, Centrica, re ported half year profits of £1 3 billion, a gigantic jump from the £242 million recorded last year Government’s token measures To leave something as vital as electric it y to market impulses is uncon scionable The coalition government may well announce another token of €200 off your electr icit y bills for one measly month but this is only putting your money, through taxes, into these companies’ poc kets in a more round about way The onl y solution is to make this most vital of utilities full y public and operating for need not profit The en erg y companies need to be nationalised, and the profit motive eliminated, which would save millions, and electricity can be doled out on the basis of need should there be shortages This would mean no families will go without heat ing on freezing cold winter nights, so as to continue letting our wor ld beat ing collection of data centres collect our most personal data in order to sell peo ple things they already own, and to more accuratel y inform people of the area in which local gir ls are waiting for them We could use the resources of these companies to increase the available en erg y supply also, for example we have huge untapped potential in off shore wind, as we shockingly have only one such farm operating at this moment Private companies will always make decisions based on increasing their profits at the expense of ever ything else The energ y we need to stay alive in many c ases is something we c annot allow them to toy with any more We need to take the power back by conor burke T h e gRowi ng rise in the cost of basic food staples is forcing many families to have to seek help from char ities such as saint V incent De Paul (sVP) or from loc al food banks; one in three calls to sVP was from those facing food po ver t y, ac cording to the char ity it is estimated that the cost of the average food shop has increased by €453 since the star t of the year and this is on top of the fact that e ven pr ior to the cur rent infla tionar y cr isis, food pr ices in ireland were already 17% higher than the eU average A net exporter of food Ire l a n d i s a n e t e x p o r t e r o f f o o d I n fact we produce more than eight times the amount of food that is needed to feed the countr y ’ s population Ireland i s we l l k n ow n f o r i t s p ro d u c t i on o f milk, cheese and eggs, yet the cost of t h e s e i t e m s i s 2 5 % h i g h e r h e re t h a n t h e E U 2 7 , w h i l e b re ad s a n d c e re a l s a re 2 0 % h i g h e r Ire l a n d i s a l s o j o i n t m o s t e x p e n s i ve f o r n on a l c oh o l i c d r i n k s , w i t h p r i c e s 3 7 % h i g h e r t h a n o t h e r E U c o u n t r i e s T h e s e a re a l l foods that are produced here so the ar gument that these pr ices are down to shipping or impor t costs doesn’t add up S o what is the reason for these ex tortionate price increases? Some of it is due to increased production costs which is attr ibuted to the war in U kraine, but that doesn’t account for the overall figures and the fact that food here is so much more expensive than other EU countries who face the same inflationar y pressures Clear ly, a signific ant propor tion of these costs comes down to price gouging by pro ducers and the major retailers who are all making massive profits annually D unnes, Tesco and Super valu are the
What do we need?
All of these companies made record profits dur ing the pan demic and are still making higher prof its now than they did pr ior to the Covid lock downs Who pays the price? Clear l y there is more than enough room within these super profits for companies to take a hit in order to ease the burden on workers, families and young people, while also paying their employees a decent wage However, the logic of the bosses system stands in op position to such a measure This is why we need radical measures such as price controls that c an put a stop to this greed and profiteering and ensure that the costs of key goods and ser vices re main affordable for ordinar y people For example, the Government could use Section 61 of the 2007 Consumer Protection Act to freeze prices for en erg y, food and fuel The workers’ movement in the past succeeded in implementing these kinds of measures and it stands to reason that we can do so again As the great civil r ights activist Malcolm X once said: “ We are not outnumbered, we are out organized ” take the power back: nationalise the price-gouging energy companies
A T T h e time of wr iting the gov er nment has negotiated a pay ag reement with the iCT U (ir ish Cong ress of Trade Unions) public ser vices committee T he deal is cur rentl y with the executives of the re spective unions who will recommend their members to vote for or reject it The negotiated deal is for an addi tional 3% in 2022 on top of the 1% cur rentl y agreed under the building momentum agreement, and a 3 5% in crease in 2023 Currentl y, inflation is c lose to 10% and could reach 15% by the end of the year, meaning this deal represents a significant pay cut in real ity Worse still is tying workers' hands next year while energ y, fuel, rent, food prices etc are soaring A bad lead According to the Central Statistics Of fice's ‘ L abour Force S ur vey ’ union membership stands at 516,000 mem bers in Ireland How could the largest force in societ y, and potentiall y the strongest, negotiate such a poor deal? In the children's nurser y rhyme the grand old D uke of York marched his ten thousand men to the top of a hill and down again in a futile strateg y, but at least he mobilised his forces Unfor tunately, for public sector workers, and workers generally, the majorit y of the leadership in ICT U are deepl y schooled in the methods of social part nership, seeing themsel ves as states people, being careful not to offend the billionaire owned press, or put for ward an alternative to the ideas of the right wing parties This timid approach leads to a fear of mobilising the true power of the trade union movement and building powerful active rank and file who would challenge this approach Kevin Callinan, President of ICTU and Fórsa General S ecretar y said he belie ved “the outcome of this long process was the best that could cur rentl y be achie ved through negotia tions "
Pitiful pay & welfare increases Fifty percent of the €6 7 billion increase will be needed just to meet current de mand for public ser vices The Govern ment has ruled out a €15 across the board increase in social welfare pay ments and the maximum increase ex pected is now €10 per week Reports seem to indicate that the once off package may include another €200 electricity credit, a bonus weeks' social welfare and an extension of the duration of the fuel allowance scheme But what is the Government going to do about rampant profiteering? The parent company of Airtricit y (SSE) made €1 36 billion in pre tax profits in the year to 31 March 31 W hy are they being allowed to massively hike gas and electricity prices? There is talk of a tax on the windfall profits of energy companies but this appears to be a token measure which leaves the price hikes in place, and control and owner ship of the industr y still in the hands of the profiteers
members engaged in each workplace, would have put the unions in a far stronger position, and meant any nego tiations would deliver a signific antl y better deal than the one on offer
Budget 2023: Government token measures are an insult by mark Johnson
The socialist AnAlysis4 by mick barr y tD T UesDAy, 27 s eptember is Budget Day and hard pressed working class people will be demand ing action from the gover nment on the cost of living crisis. No sooner had people struggled to pay all the back to school costs than news broke of a new round of electricity and gas price increases, with Airtricity leading the way with shocking 45% hikes
The Government says it plans to in crease budget spending by €6 7 billion and to spend a further €1 billion on once off cost of living measures These figures fall short of the overall improve ment in the State's finances which have turned around to the tune of €10 billion in the last year from a €5 billion deficit to a €5 billion surplus They also fall far short of what is needed to protect the living standards of ordinar y people as can be seen by what we know so far of the Govern ment's plans
A national protest in July or August could have been called, to bring maxi mum pressure on the government, making common cause with all those affected by the cost of living in our communities, inc luding private sector workers struggling with low pay Going into pay talks with the mo mentum of a campaign of protest and agitation, being str ike ready with
Power of trade union members must be mobilised to win double digit pay increases
No vote now crucial
The lesson from Britain this year shows that when a lead is given workers can win and c an inspire others to fight Mick Lynch of the RMT, for its mili tant stand, has become a household name, inspiring many other workers to follow their example Google searches in the UK asking "how to join a union" have increased hundreds fold, #Gener alS trike was trending on Twitter, and tens of thousands in working c lass communities are protesting under the ‘Enough Is Enough’ campaign Rec laiming the trade unions into a fighting movement in Ireland with sol idarity at its core would transform the situation and is a key task
The Government has "offered" pub lic sector workers a 6 5% increase over two years It has ruled out cost of living increases or anything that might resem ble them The L ow Pay Commission has recommended an increase in the minimum wage, but the Budget will not provide for any increase that even ap proaches the Living Wage figure of €12 90, which was set before inflation rocketed and is now clearly out of date What’s needed? W hat measures would a socialist gov ernment implement? A socialist gov ernment would deliver cost of living pay increases for all 300,000 public sector workers; it would increase the mini mum wage to €16 per hour; it would in troduce a four day working week with no loss in pay ; it would aim to bring all social welfare payments up to the old PUP rate of €350 a week and would implement a 15% across the board in crease as an immediate first step Energ y prices and food prices would be frozen by way of an order under the 2006 Consumer Protection Act Both the big energ y companies and the big food wholesalers and supermarkets would be taken into public ownership and run by working people in the inter ests of working people, not for the max imisation of shareholder profit Rents would not merely be froz en but cut, and large propert y portfolios like those of IRES REIT nationalised State provision of social and affordable housing would be massively stepped up to counteract the exodus from the mar ket of so many small landlords Public transport would be massively expanded and made free at the point of use Added costs on pay and welfare pro vision would be covered by steeply pro gressive taxes on wealth and record corporate profits In fact, the profiteer ing system of capitalism itself will need to be ended if the cost of living crisis is to be fully addressed, by taking the key sectors of the economy into democratic public ownership Mass pressure needed Of course, we unfortunately don't have a socialist government, we have a capi talist Fianna Fáil / Fine Gael / Green Party government That being the case, pressure needs to be brought to bear to demand a real campaign on all of these issues from the trade union movement Action also needs to be taken to build the cost of living protests planned for S eptember 17 (Cork) snd S eptember 24 (D ublin) and to escalate those protests after the Budget as the winter approaches and arrives
vote no: reject the public sector pay deal! organise & mobilise to win a real pay rise Coalition government refuses point blank to take measures that will stop profiteering
Negotiation with no strategy W hat the six month timeline shows is this: In ear l y March 2022, due to r ising inflation ICTU triggered pay negotia tions The government didn't respond for two months until it entered into talks in May An offer of just 2 5% for 2022 was rejected by unions on 17 June ICTU began to plan coordinated balloting but said it was open to more talks “ even at short notice” Between 18 June and mid August, near l y two months, the government had not called unions bac k to talks, with ballots planned for after the budget Finally, on 29 August a new deal was negotiated and ballots for industr ial action were called off to allow a vote on the deal W hat was c lear l y missing dur ing this period was any industrial strateg y by the trade union leadership that could empower members and br ing maximum pressure on the government to win an inflation busting pay deal A fighting leadership would have done something like the following: Called town hall meetings in March in all workplaces, bringing workers to gether to discuss the best tactics and encouraging the forming of local ballot / action committees
Many
‘Never Again’ The movement ’ s call was for Savita and all pregnant people’s lives But also for much more l Travelling for abor tion and gender affirming healthcare no more! l Catholic Church influence in public health and education no more ! l Culture of Misog yny , LGBTQpho bia & racism no more !
Internationall y, the shoc king over turning of Roe V Wade in the US, and Poland ’ s recent draconian abortion ban are endangering lives and illustrate the urgenc y to march for abor tion r ights ever ywhere On this island, the inten sify ing transphobia being spouted across the air waves as well as the rise in gender based and LGBTQIphobic vi olence in recent years intensify the ur genc y to deliver a huge march on 29 October for change
students are forced to travel four hours a day to get to and from college
Savita's 10th Anniversar y March for health, equality & bodily autonomy
F I A N N A FÁ I L junior minister Rober t Troy, in the best tradition of his par ty, is beset by multiple proper ty profiteering scandals and allegations of corruption. through a string of ar ticles re leased by investigative media out let ‘ the Ditch’ it has been revealed that the tD bought proper ty from the criminal asset bureau, sold it to Westmeath county council while he was a sitting councillor, did not declare this and other in come from rent and proper ty sales, does not have planning per mission or fire cer ts for a rental proper ty, and failed to declare di rectorship of a company, among other allegations this, from a junior minister re sponsible for company regulation, hardly inspires confidence troy has offered grovelling apologies, but declares he did not intentionally conceal anything taoiseach micheal mar tin and tá naiste leo Varadk ar have de fended the beleaguered tD A system run by landlords for landlords the fact that a tD merely has to admit their conflict of interest, rather than rid themselves of it, is itself an indictment of the system in 2021, repor ts showed that 25% of tDs are landlords this is literally a Government and system of and for the rich at the core of the housing crisis is the for profit model a model that can only be sustained on the basis of handing over public money to private interests and a model that is inherently incapable of catering for need in total, the various rent supplements, haP, raS etc amounted to a massive €893 million handed over to pri vate wealth hoarders in 2021 this has the effect of inflating rent costs because landlords will in crease their prices each time the government increases rental sub sidies this approach of successive governments is per fectly rational from the point of view of the land lords and business owners and has perpetuated the housing emer genc y rober t troy is a personifica tion of how wedded ideologically (and in troy ’s case, materially), the Government and political estab lishment are to the private market model that has caused the hous ing emergenc y and is therefore in capable of resolving it by brandon byrne
A dire situation O utside of D ublin the situation is still dire, according to a sur vey by May nooth S tudent Union last week, 53% of students looking for accommo dation for the coming ac ademic year have still been unable to secure a place The lack of housing for students here is particular ly damaging as Maynooth is the c losest university to ser ve much of Ireland ’ s mid lands This means that the over whelming majority of students are commuters Many have said that they travel four or more hours a day to attend lectures The lac k of affordable housing for students in Ireland is leading to an ero sion of the right to an education Thou sands of students are being forced to drop out as they cannot access or afford a place to live As long as the pr ivate rental market is allowed to control the suppl y of housing this situation will continue and worsen Students unions, allied with the trade union movement, must organise mass demonstrations and actions to ensure that the state is forced to immediately step in The pri vately owned purpose built student ac commodation complexes throughout D ublin city should be taken into public ownership and made genuinely afford able, and the state must commence the building more student accommodation, on campus and off campuses, to meet the housing needs of all
Help us build for a huge march to the Dail on 29 October: take flyers; help with posters; get a motion of suppor t for the march passed by your trade union or SU branch Contact us on 087 641 8519 to volunteer
north The socialist 5 by Dan o’rourke
1pm Saturday 29 October, Garden of Remembrance, Dublin 1 o CToBeR 2022 is the 10th an niversar y of the death of savita halappanavar savita lost her life suf fer ing in agony in a galway hospital facing an ine vitable misc ar r iage, savita repeated l y beg ged for what would have been a lifesaving abor tion but was denied this due to the exis tence of a foetal hear tbeat. This tragedy sparked a movement from below that delivered repeal and abortion legislation But limits in the law and access north and south are leaving people be hind In 2021, 206 travelled from the south and 161 travelled from the north to Britain for abortion care Furthermore, the debac le of the Na tional Maternit y Hospital (NMH) shows that F ianna Fáil, F ine Gael and the Greens are unwilling / unable to stand up to the church This was the first maternit y hospital established since repeal and an epic fail for social progress ROSA has called a march from the Garden of Remembrance, D ublin 1 to the Dail at 1pm on Saturday 29 Octo ber, 10 years af ter the death of Savita, both to commemorate her and to restate what we vowed following her death
T h e h o U s i n g cr isis has reached depressing ne w lows with the Depar tment of housing re por ting at the end of August a record number 10,568 people living in emer genc y accommodation This figure howe ver does not ac count for the many thousands sleeping rough, living in direct provision or women in refuge centres Housing char it y Threshold warned of an “ on slaught of e victions” to come from a rental market in spiral, with rents rising out of reach for most people and the availability of properties plummeting Camping on campus? Amidst this cr isis are also Ireland ’ s young people, with near l y 50% of young adults aged 25 29 living in their parent ’ s home, forced out of the rental market with little hope of affording their own home This issue is com pounded for students, who are placed in even more precarious positions due to needing accommodation c lose to where they study and having to balance education and work The lack of invest ment in student housing by universities and the state has led to a booming de mand for rental proper ties near col leges, with land lords charging exorbitant rents Moll y Greenough, President of UCD S tudent Union has spoken of students taking out loans as they can not afford to pay rent for the coming year Some are contacting the union to ask if they are allowed to camp on cam pus in order to attend their lectures!
fianna fáil tD robert troy – a minister profiteering from the housing crisis
Another year, another dire student accommodation crisis
Chaos, Cris – Capitalist
A prolonged squeeze on wages and condi tions facing the wor ld ’ s working c lasses has enabled soaring profits
“By occupation, by theft, by extortion, by extermination by the expropriation of natural resources by the use and the threat of militar y force capitalism is a rampaging tiger committed to the de struction or absorption of all other ways of life except its own ” So wrote the phe nomenal revolutionar y socialist and anti war trailblazer, Rosa Luxemburg, over a centur y ago The multifaceted cr isis of and for c apitalism in the 2020s are woven thoroughl y into the fabr ic of a decaying system The extraction of profit from workers, from nature the essence of the sy stem is c ausing a multifaceted and unprecedented crisis This is no series of unfortunate events This is no short term blip The billion aires who increased their wealth by over $10 trillion during the pandemic the super rich capitalist elite who profit di rectly from exploitation of workers and nature they are the depraved benefi ciaries of the chaos and cruelty of the in equalit y, immiseration and war that ’ s rife Rosa L uxemburg also talked about “socialism or bar bar ism” Ever y single step in the direction of working c lass, poor and oppressed people str uggling and organising against the status quo is an assertion of humanity in the midst of inhumanit y Ever y single movement of solidarity to wrestle wealth out of private hands into the pockets of working peo ple, is a plus The future of humanit y and the planet requires that such a struggle is in tensel y imbued with a socialist pro gramme that ’ s for a breaking with capitalism, that can really build an alter native to the unacceptable status quo
Ecological crisis profit drive ruining lives & nature Capitalism’s c limate and ecological ca tastrophe the sy stem’s addiction to the burning of fossil fuels and its contin ued destruction of the environment for profit is at an advanced stage such that it is increasingly entwined with the other crises of the system In Pakistan at the time of w r iting, floods have sub merged one third of the countr y as the death toll mounts, breaking records for their terr ible sc ale Extreme weather e vents, r ising sea le vels and maimed ecosystems already mean there are over 20 million climate refugees annually Re cent predictions have spoken of 1 2 bil lion c limate refugees by 2050 The Covid crisis itself and global excess mor talit y associated with Covid was 14 91 million in 24 months of the pandemic has to be understood in the context of the ecological breakdown re sulting in the unrelenting extraction of profit from nature Scientists were warn ing for years about the likelihood of a pandemic but shor t termism of the profit system meant government ’ s were woefully underprepared and the likes of vaccine patents the privatising of sci entific and medic al advancement that should be for the public good ser ved to impede the system from dealing more effectively with the crisis Yet scientists are warning of ne w pandemics on the horizon, with global inequality and the destruction of the environment cited by authors in the Nature Medicine Journal as the roots of the threat, and main imped iments in addressing it “Socialism or barbarism”
Russia’s brutal invasion of Uk raine is one by produc t of the New Cold War by manus lenihan C AP i TAlism is all too real as a force in our daily lives. socialism, by contrast, c an seem vague and dis tant w hat is the socialist alter native and how would it sol ve the cr ises we are living through?
T h ese CRises inc lude those of war and imper ialist r ivalr y ; a g rowing per iod of ‘stag flation’ inc lud ing a spiralling cost of living / food / en erg y pr ice cr isis; the c limate and ecological crisis New Cold War The era of globalisation and neoliberal ism has given way to a new period of in tensified r ivalr ies between imper ialist powers the US, China and R ussia This is rooted in the realit y of global c apitalism today, inc luding the long term decline of the economic prowess of US capitalism, and therefore of US im perialism This dec line was symbolised by US imper ialism’s ignominious exit from Afghanistan that heaped yet more miser y upon the Afghan people who have suffered decades of imperialist oc cupation only to be face another stint of Taliban rule The emergence of new global capital ist powers, most especially that of China, means this tension is a constant danger a “New Cold War ” between nuc lear powers Inter imper ialist conflict has been massively intensified in light of Russia’s despic able invasion of U kraine S ix months on and with no end in sight, a conser vative estimate is that over 50,000 have lost their lives Four teen million have been displaced Cities have been destroyed P utin’s vicious br utalit y has been met with a ratcheting up of mili tarism by Western powers, with a seven fold increase of NATO troop presence in Europe and a €200 billion increase in militar y spending by EU states alone The inter imperialist rivalries of this era show that capitalism is incapable of deliver ing peace, a gr im realit y with a brutal human toll “The unemployed were hungry. The employed are hungry now ” Bertolt Brecht Coming out of the Covid loc kdowns, the failure of the capitalist market meant labour shortages and supply chain issues that c aused inflationar y pressure swif tl y compounded by the repercus sions of the war on U kraine “Costl y food and energ y are fostering global un rest ” lamented The Economist recentl y The severit y of rising food and energ y bills is such that numerous mouthpieces of the capitalist establishment are inti mating their fear about the c lass str ife and c lass struggle that will ensue Meanwhile, working c lass and poor people the wor ld over are worr y ing about putting food on the table, keeping the lights on, or are hungr y and cold And it ’ s a global crisis Pew Research has indic ated that inflation rates have doubled in 37 of the 44 richest countries since 2020 The research also indicated that Turkey, for example, has inflation of 54 8%! Unlike the last period of ‘stagflation’ in the 1970s, the current one is unprece dented coming after more than a decade of decline of real wages Any attempts by the capitalist class to blame price rises on rising wages must be met with derision
L et's take a few ever yday examples Instead of 40 or more, a 20 or 30 hour working week would be possible, with a living wage for all Rent and bills could be reduced to a small sliver of your in come Free and expanded public trans port would mean people would be able to go wherever they wanted while com muters wouldn’t have to pay through the nose to fill their fuel tanks The physical and mental healthcare people need would be free, accessible and pro vided in a timely fashion These are just some examples of ever yday improvements a socialist pro gramme would easily deliver
Rational planning But how would all this be possible? How would we pay for it?
Just for starters, the wealth of the rich could be shared out to help those most in need; mansions could be turned into health centres The best buildings in a large city could be reser ved not for the offices of some investment fund, but for the public amenities But the main point is this: the biggest companies and banks would be taken into public ownership Workers and consumers would elect representatives who, along with specialists and central government planners, would democrat ically run these enterprises, as part of a rational plan for the whole economy S o t h e v a s t we a l t h w h i c h c o r p o r a tions make would be invested accord i n g t o d e m o c r a t i c d e c i s i on s , n o t according to the profit motive of share holders The wor ld around us would no longer be shaped by the whims of r ich p e o p l e, a n d wo u l d t a k e on a m o re human aspect It's possible in theor y that an elected worker's council would still, like pr ivate owners, choose to invest in cr ypto snake oil, over hyped start ups, share buy bac ks, housing bubbles, and flashy ads to convince people to buy one brand instead of another Possible, but unlikely We are told that human nature is in herently self interested W hether that ’ s true or not, most of us would tend to in vest in things that benefit us all, like better schools, hospitals, housing, child care, transport, etc
Democratically agreed priorities L abour saving technolog y, instead of creating unemployment, would mean a sharing out of work hence that 20 hour week Treating housing and energ y as public utilities, kicking out specula tion and profiteer ing, would make a green transition much quicker and eas ier, and also reduce bills Right now, because of the capitalist market, the best minds and the most funds are focused on the most trivial or socialism – the alte
The problem is profit in ever y sense
The so 6 speCiAl feAture It ’s been dubbed the Age of Disorder The 2020s and the present era of capitalism could also be described aptly and alliteratively as the Era of Chaos, Crisis and Catastrophe. Multifaceted crises of and for the system define the epoch of today. These crises that are intrinsically rooted in today ’s capitalism, are interconnec ted, and also each have dispersive and dynamic qualities of their own, writes Laura Fitzgerald.
speCiAl feAture 7 ocialist
Good sense the truth is that there’s no more utopian a belief than that capitalism can exist without pover ty, war, envi ronmental destruction, oppression, disease, forced displacement, etc So either we accept these things, and make the most of our descent to ex tinction, or we we don’t, and instead get rid of capitalism and why wouldn’t we? looking at the question rationally : billions of workers, small farmers and poor folk toil ever yday to create a world of plenty, but they struggle to get by (with var ying qualities of life among them) while a tiny elite lives lavishly clearly these billions of work ing class people should demand more from the billionaires and also clearly because their work is what makes the world run if they were or ganised they could get whatever they demanded it ’s not power, then, that holds back the labouring majority ; it ’s confidence in its own capability and in the possi bility of an alternative in the course of its clashes and conflicts with the (un necessar y) hardship of life under capi talism, and those responsible for it, the working class can acquire these things the histor y of working class struggle teaches us that much histor y also teaches us that change is constant in human societies, in cluding at times revolutionar y change capitalism itself was the product of revolutions, and it has given rise to a class which has risen against it on countless occasions revolutions will happen again, that ’s for sure Socialism is not for sure, but it surely is possible
Is it possible to change the world, or is socialism a utopian dream?
by eddie mccabe
sis & Catastrophe Decay in the 2020s harmful things, like how to optimise c licks on social media, or how to help rich people beat the tax system W hat if the incentives were turned around? W hat if we could channel all that effort into sol ving problems like c limate change or poverty? Today we are looking at blac kouts and a fuel rationing regime being brought in This is an authoritarian so lution to a capitalist problem W ith free and expanded public transpor t, with ambitious spending on doing up homes for energ y efficienc y, you could save more fuel than the str ictest rationing system Ending duplication and waste Socialism would not be a perfect utopia There would still be inequality, initially ; it might be necessar y to give the best qualified specialists more pay, to give bonuses to those who work harder, etc That would be nothing c lose to the in equality that exists today, with the CEO earning hundreds of times more than the worker O ver time all inequalit y could hopefully be phased out As soci et y becomes more equal, less wasteful and more harmonious it is possible that the security forces and prisons too could be reduced, disarmed, or e ven phased out entirely Some products would no longer be available, because it's wasteful to trans port stuff all around the world just be cause someone somewhere will pay for it W herever possible, goods would be pro duced near where they are consumed On the other hand, products would not be shoved in our faces at ever y turn You would no longer see 20 different kinds of chocolate bars and 20 different kinds of fizz y drinks as you approach a shop counter From the point of view of both health and of reducing single use plastics, this would be a dramatic im provement Endless possibilities W hat is described above is not a flaw less, perfect system Really, it's just the bare minimum a person should expect in a technologic all y advanced societ y And this is onl y a possible sketch of what socialism might look like There is no blueprint for socialism, as it would not be imposed from on high but worked out democratic all y through mass participation And it would not be like a computer upgrade; its institutions would emerge through strikes and protests in a living, dynamic struggle that would go down in histor y It could only succeed as part of an international wave of revolution, with the masses of one countr y inspir ing the next across a whole region, a continent, or even the whole wor ld ernative to crisis & inequality
“ We live in capitalism Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings ” ursula le Guin G I V E N T H E state of the world today a world in the throes of multiple major crises, including existential crises, which are all connected con sequences of a system in decay it’s not an easy time to be a de fender of capitalism. Still, defenders of capitalism abound throughout society but for the most par t, when ar ticulated, their defences are ver y different from the brash speechifying about the superi ority of the market that was ubiqui tous 20 years ago So profoundly has the neoliberal capitalist era failed to make the world a better place, or to provide even the basics of decent housing, jobs or a healthy environ ment, that the best argument they can muster in defence of capitalism is that ‘there is no alternative’ Common sense this really is the best thing capitalism has going for it, and pathetic as that is, it ’s an idea that has a power ful res onance i t permeates the education system, the political arena and the mainstream media ever ything we’re taught from an early age, and actually how we’re trained to think, is, as James connolly said, “in the grooves and along the lines of how those who exploit us want us to think ” ‘common sense’, which is for the most par t ver y sensible, and a useful way of think ing about many prob lems, is however based on capitalist ideology the ‘common sense’ that says we can’t demand too much in wages and conditions because we might put our employer out of busi ness, for example or the ‘common sense’ that says we need to look after the poor here in ireland before we can think about helping the poor anywhere else; or the common sense that says that sex and gender are purely binar y concepts; or the com mon sense that says we have to fight for gradual reforms, not revolution, despite the fact that the house is on fire, as Greta thunberg exclaimed basically, common sense is fine for the most par t, but it is fundamentally opposed to radical change: it steers people away from think ing about radical change in favour of what ’s seen as most ‘practical’ breaking with capitalist ideology, so ingrained as it is, is not easily done it’s a process and it takes time, which can be more or less depending on one’s circumstances and experiences involvement in class struggles cer tainly speeds up the process So living in a time of rising class struggles, such as today, means living in a time ripe for anti capitalist and socialist ideas as connolly also wrote: “revolution is never practical until the hour of the revolution strikes Then it alone is practical, and all the effor ts of the conser vatives, and compromisers be come the most futile and visionar y of human imaginings ”
er ished population
Poyang, China’s largest fresh water lake, dried up
Even when the US invaded Afghanistan in 2001, ousting a r ight wing regime, it was never able or will ing to resolve the gender inequality and the generalised suffering of an impov
The US bac ked President K ar z ai endorsed a code of conduct which stated women could not travel without a male super visor In 2013, the United Nations noted a 20% increase in domestic violence
End the sanctions Conditions for women in Afghanistan have again worsened in this first year of Taliban rule Almost immediately the Taliban ordered women employees of the government to stay home and in most areas girls are only able to attend school up to the sixth grade Women must be accompanied by a male blood relative while leaving the home, and can no longer be issued a drivers licence The workers’ movement globall y must demand an end to the sanctions against Afghanistan and that emer gency aid is urgently provided to pre vent further death and hunger As socialists we say no to Taliban rule and no to imperialism A struggle for democracy and socialism by the workers, poor and oppressed must be forged in Afghanistan, Pakistan and this wider re gion to win true liberation for all by michael Shiel lantr y F RO M 6 to 8 August, Missile strikes on Gaza by the Israeli state military k illed 47 Palestinian civillians, in cluding 16 children, and left up to 300 injured. The campaign has been described in mainstream news outlets as a 'conflic t' due to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ ) firing rockets af ter the bombings had begun, even though the Israeli PM Yair Lapid had earlier claimed the attacks were a 'pre emptive' strike against the PIJ! Palestinian health authorities have warned of an incoming collapse of Gaza's health ser vice due to a fuel cri sis, after israel stopped the transpor t of fuel to the region shor tly before the attack Wi t h i s ra e l ' s f i f t h e l e c t i o n i n t wo years due in November, lapid's first a s a n i n c u m b e n t , t h e i n a b i l i t y to fo r m a s t a b l e g ove r n m e n t a n d t h e n e e d to ra l l y vo te r s h a s p ro m p te d i n te n s i f i e d s to k i n g o f n a t i o n a l c h a u v i n i s m w i t h d e v a s t a t i n g consequences
Failed strategy the PiJ are allied with hamas, another right wing pro capitalist organisa tion, neither have a strategy to defeat the siege of Gaza or the occupation of Palestine they rely on counter produc tive, sporadic rocket attacks; talks that have only gained tempo rar y and unstable ceasefires; and at tempts to seek allies among imperialist powers and the ruling classes of neighbouring countries, such as the corrupt ex field marshal abdul fatah al Sisi in egypt there is an alternative to this failed approach in may of last year, a general strike of Palestinian people exer ted enor mous pressure on the israeli ruling class during its last major assault on Gaza What is needed is a democrati cally organised grassroots movement of the Palestinain masses from below, with a right to armed self defence Such a movement could unite with the israeli working class, and the work ing class and poor throughout this re gion, to over throw all oppressive capitalist regimes and imperialism, and build a new, socialist middle east
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The socialist internAtionAl8 by James fleming A T T h e end of August, C hina witnessed its worst heatwave on record. C hongqing, a city of about 20 million people in the sichuan reg ion, suffered temperatures of 45°C T he heat wave has led to an energ y cr isis in response, authorities have rationed power supplies to 'factories, shopping malls, high r ises and public trans por t', which means many people no longer have access to air conditioning to cope with the heat There are water shortages and farm ing has been debilitated Power produc tion in Sichuan is exacerbated further bec ause it relies on water for hy dropower According to The Guardian (30 August), it 'would take a meteoro logical mirac le' to get back to normal power production le vels This means that areas such as Sichuan would “ have to boost reliance on energ y from fossil fuels until the de velopment of re ne wable sources c aught up ” , which adds fuel to the c limate crisis Flooding Ironic all y, it looks as if the droughts caused across this massive countr y may be followed by flooding In neighbour ing Pakistan one third of the countr y is currentl y under water from floods and over 1,000 people have been killed as a direct result
In 1978, the lef tist People’s Demo cratic Par t y of Afghanistan rose to power, instituting land reform as well as dec lar ing the equalit y of women Women were given the freedom to choose their c areers Free literac y classes and vocational training were of fered in order to extend opportunities for women By 1991 there were 7,000 women in higher educ ation in Afghanistan It was these progressive reforms, not US imperialism, that of fered the most oppor tunities for Afghan women in recent histor y In fact, the prevalence of the Taliban largely stems from the inter vention the Central Intelligence Agenc y (CIA) Af ter the S oviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, the CIA funded and assisted the Mujahideen, a right wing Islamic group which would be the forer unner of the Taliban W ithout this, the takeover of the Mujahideen in 1992 would have proven less likely
The disasters in China and Pakistan are yet more examples of what are now continuous disasters occurr ing across the globe, all horrific symptoms of c li mate c atastrophe Many are naturall y sick and tired of the head lines, suffer ing from ne ws fatigue a condition caused by one miserable head line af ter another We are made to feel powerless, and the powers that be never seem to have feasible or lasting solutions Far from gradually saving the envi ronment, as we have been told it would, capitalism is worsening and accelerat ing its destr uction As journalist George Monbiot said, “ The entire hab itable planet is a necessar y sacrifice so that fossil fuel industries can continue making their profits ” Climate change is not inevitable Climate c atastrophe is not ine vitable and working c lass people c an stop it It is a result of the politics and eco nomics of c apitalism, a sy stem based on the exploitation of people and the environment in the pursuit of profit for the few It is more profitable for the big auto industr y to sell c ars to transpor t one person at a time than to set up decent public transport infrastructure that can transpor t hundreds or thousands at a time (and more safely); it is more prof itable for the big energ y companies to burn dirty fossil fuels than create cheap energ y from solar or wind power To resist c limate change and str ive for c limate justice, we must struggle to end c apitalism and win a democratic socialist society that protects the envi ronment we live in by harper cleves o n 30 August 2021 the last United s tates troops withdre w from Afghanistan, leaving the r ight wing extremist g roup the Taliban to fill the politic al void lef t by this de par ture Almost two decades of impe r ialist war and occupation, at a cost of tr illions of dollars, resulted in the deaths of 250,000 Afghan people illustrating the barbar ity of imper ial ism and c apitalism’s domination of the wor ld Another horr ific c atastrophe now faces the people of Afghanistan An es timated six million are at risk of famine as a result of US imposed sanctions Ninety percent of the population faces malnutrition and its health system is on the verge of collapse Having br utally occupied and waged war on the Afghan people for two dec ades, the major c apitalist powers are plunging the countr y into another humanitarian catastrophe They are willing to star ve its populace bec ause it is r uled by a regime that is not compliant to the dik tats Imperialist legacy Many people still wrongly assume that Afghanistan is inherentl y bac kward place, par ticular l y on issues of femi nism, yet histor y and recent str uggle says other wise In 1919, in the context of a str uggle for independence, and with the influence of the Russian rev olution, Afghan women won the right to vote a full year before their coun terparts in the United States
Droughts in China, floods in pakistan climate change is wreaking devastation
one year on from Us withdrawal: afghans face famine & growing repression Another summer of terror in Gaza
in August
north The socialist 9
3. GlenDimplex workers in November 2021 voted to stop doing overtime even though many relied on overtime to top up their income just to pay bills this caused huge pressure on the company and made the strike ac tion taken by workers more effective and with a more immediate impact 4 Workers in inter face in craigavon in may 2022 withdrew goodwill (in cluding training new staff and agenc y workers who could have po tentially replaced them during strike action) which unified the workforce in the face of strike break ing and anti union messaging ahead of strike action they also set up strike and picket committees to ensure that it was people who best k new the work place and what would have maxi mum impact on the company were the ones organising action Pickets, therefore, were highly effective in bringing bosses to heel quick ly "Never cross a picket line!" This principle has been reinforced dur ing numerous strikes across the North in recent months Whether a worker works for the company or not we can encourage them to not cross the picket line, join the ac tion/union and support the strike 170,000 C WU members from Royal Mail and BT/Openreach went on strike in Britain and the Nor th on 31 August
We have the power to change Unless we now take determined action the situation is only set to get worse for working c lass people Pr ices are ex pected to continue to rise with energ y pr ices predicted to stay at extreme heights for the next six years, with waiting lists continuing to soar and poverty surging while the housing crisis and other factors are shar pening fur ther That is what c apitalism has to offer working c lass people in 2022! We have the power to change this As covid again demonstrated, it is workers who make society function we produce ever ything, we move ever ything, we connect ever yone We make the profits the bosses benefit from And we can stop doing that W hen linked to a de termined campaign and when we stand together we can mobilise our power to force bosses and the establishment into concessions This should include wages rising automatically with inflation, im mediate pay rises and an end to poverty wages through an immediate increase in the minimum wage
Workers' struggle pays off
1 lecturers at uu (ulster university) refused to submit marked assign ments and papers at the end of the academic year this was the most ef fective way lecturers could bring pressure to bear on previously indif ferent vice chancellors
To win we need to build a serious campaign of action including: l
A serious campaign of industrial action including selective action, work to rule, overtime bans and naming further strike actions l Organise workplace meetings to democratically decide how best to build strike action l Build for massive protests on 1st October to support the strike action momentum l Coordinate strike action of all workers fighting back and seek to expand our struggle towards a general strike on the cost of living crisis l Workers have united on picket lines but we also need to unite politically All of the main parties represent the status quo We need a socialist alternative that can unite across the sectarian divide
2. by threatening and seriously preparing for strike action, translink workers in april won a significantly improved deal this illustrated the power workers have and bosses were forced into giving concessions to avoid strike action
north: cost of living crisis Build for a general strike!
A s T h e cost of living continues to sky roc ket, inflation is offi cially over 11% with some predicting it will reach 18% by next year. o ver 155,000 CwU members across both BT and Royal mail are str iking to gether today T hey are not alone with worker ’ s council workers, jour nalists for the company Reach and countless others have also been str iking now added to by fur ther ballots for indus trial action being called for by univer sit y workers, health workers and others Strong determined action We need strong, determined, coordi nated and well planned actions to force employers to back down S uch action must be decided and planned by work ers in the affected workplaces to ensure maximum effectiveness as it is workers on the ground who best know not only their jobs and the workings of compa nies and sectors but also how to ensure actions have the maximum impact This c an inc lude strategic action shor t of str ike action inc luding the withdrawal of goodwill (such as train ing or use of personal mobile phones for work duties) refusal to do non con tractual over time or working through breaks The use of these tactics, mostly in advance of strike action and always coupled with ser ious preparation for str ike action c an fur ther enhance the impact and help speed up the winning of disputes S olidarit y is a key weapon we have in our arsenal Taking united action strengthens us hugely It also illustrates how we can challenge divide and rule tactics by management and bosses in c luding the conscious use of agenc y staff to cut across union organisation and create a multi tier workforce An approach to seriously organise agency workers is an important prerequisite to cut across this tactic Effective co ordinated industrial action needed W hen railway workers took strike ac tion in England, Wales and S cotland dur ing the S ummer there were at tempts by bosses and the Tories to turn other workers against them this back fired on the media and the Tor ies as Mic k Ly nch popular ised pic ket lines and strikes again He was so successful precisely because more and more work ers see the absolute necessity for us to take effective industrial action Action that is co ordinated ensur ing ballots and strike action is occur ring at the same time across workplaces and sectors; escalating action making sure that workers are able to increase the pressure on bosses if they continue to refuse to meet the demands of work ers, and determined well organised and led by workers on the ground is essential In the context of the cost of living crisis, even double digit pay increases are quic kl y wiped out We therefore also need price reductions and controls We have to re verse the pr ivatisation drives of previous decades which fol lowed the pro market and neo liberal model and impacted Royal Mail as well as BT Challenge the system Energ y giants and other key sectors should be nationalised and run demo cratically by workers in a planned way to meet the needs of people and the planet and no longer in order to create profits for the few Far from bringing about better ser vices and lower prices, capitalist competition has meant an at tack on workers' rights generally This is c lear l y seen in the distribution and postal sector where now companies like Amazon are setting the tone as the gig economy expands further with devas tating consequences for workers' The recent walkouts of Amazon workers in the US and Britain are important illus trations of workers being pushed into action Achieving this will require a political voice for working c lass people here that can fight for the economic changes we need and at the same time unite workers from Protestant, Catholic and other backgrounds None of the main par ties here are c apable of doing this and they have no interest in this either They continue to rely on sectarian di vision and for all their rhetor ic will stand united against the interest of working c lass people as so c lear l y shown by their 3% pay rise for health workers they imposed last year It means that as well as fighting in work places we have to build a political or ganisation based on str uggle that involves young people and workers of all backgrounds
S C CIAALLIST Ma x t Jou na o h S s Pa 1y 5 Summer 2022 €4 £4 INSIDE mp & w r he outg h g oba ap a s Op gan ng h g ed Le sons o k p s and p e en W g Bo sh v m C W e and
The socialist report & theory10 by eddie mccabe T H E W O R L D V I E W of ever y main stream economist and right wing politician is predicated on the be lief that people are motivated pri marily by money, and therefore, to them an economy that’s not based on profit making is inconceivable.
socialist party summer school 2022 ‘hugely enjoyable & educational event’
“ The Summer School in Glendalough was a fantastic post pandemic weekend full of political discussions I ’ m a 6th year student who joined the party less than a year ago, and the school really solidified my understand ing about why I became involved with the Socialist Party Both the commis sions that analysed current issues while explaining a socialist way for ward, and the people I met and talked with, re moved feelings of doomer ism that I and many other young people experi ence As a young person I of ten find it paral y sing to read about trans lives under c apitalism, about the war in U kraine or about the way in which mental health is treated in c apitalist Ireland But the way that commissions were held made me leave with a sense of motivation and a concrete way for ward I think the commission I found the most interesting was titled ‘ War and p Mick Barr y did the lead off He quoted Car l von Claueswitz who famously ar gued that ‘ war is a continuation of pol ic y by other means ’ War is used as a politic al instr ument by wor ld leaders when they cannot get what they want peacefully Wars are made by the ruling c lass, to the detriment of the working c lass O rdinar y people gain nothing from war but are coerced, or more of ten, forced to kill each other for the gains of the capitalist c lass Mick also pointed out that war is an extremel y profitable industr y for the producers of arms It ’ s shocking for me to learn about this war through a Mar xist analysis be cause in school we are taught that war is triggered by one ‘ bad guy ’ or because Western powers are ‘defending democ racy ’ when in fact war is a horrible out come of the system of capitalism W hat I appreciated most about all the com missions that I attended was that they always offered a way for ward ”
Socialism 101 series #7 Doesn’t capitalism
“As a relatively new member of the So cialist Party, this year ’ s Summer School in Wicklow was truly such an eye open ing and enjoyable experience and has also provided so much scope for further learning for the future I already feel that each of the sessions I attended have really developed and strengthened my knowledge of the Party ’ s values as well as its key areas of focus and how best to implement these in our wider society Being able to attend sessions such as ‘ The revolution & the party we need ’ , ‘ War & capitalism how can we end both’ as well as an introduction to Mar xist philosophy, has reall y helped to solidify my understanding of what it means to be a Mar xist as well as to highlight the vital impor tance of a strong socialist movement today given our current global situation It was also a wonderful opportunity to meet with fellow comrades, from both c lose to home and further afield It was so re warding to be able to en gage in discussions with people from different international perspectives and with such a beautiful setting as Glen dalough, I came home feeling refreshed as well as excited to be even more in volved in the Party moving for ward ” Maya (Dublin)
O f course, in a capitalist economy if you don’t have money you don’t live, so it ’s true that that incentive is always there But is the pursuit of more money what drives people to do all the things they do? Well, no. People do all k inds of wonder ful and not so wonder ful things, which they dedicate their limited time to, for reasons other than money.
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Get a copy from any Socialist Par ty member or order online or subscribe at: socialistpar ty.ie f Rom 18 to 21 August, socialist Par ty members nor th and south and visitors from inter national s o cialist Alter native (isA) joined to gether in glendalough to par ticipate in the Par ty ’ s annual summer school, the first since the pandemic. T he weekend was a success with 130 mem bers and suppor ters attending o ver the course of the four days Topics on the agenda included, many among others, commissions on: ‘Resist ing the rise of the far right ’ , ‘ The rele vance of James Connoll y ’ s Labour in I r ish Histor y ” , ‘ Rebuilding militant trade unionism amongst a new gener ation’, ‘Capitalism & the or igins of racism’, ‘Socialism & the fight for trans liberation’, and a commission in Irish on ‘Cad is Sóisialachas Ann?’, We asked young members, who par ticipated for their first time, to give their thoughts about how the weekend went: Hayley (Belfast)
The fac t that capitalism means investment only in areas where profit can be made, however, means most people involved in things like ar t, music, science, politics and spor t have no choice but to pursue these interests without financial assistance
In fac t, millions of people work in jobs they have little interest in just to make enough money to get by, and develop their passions in what spare time they have lef t. Even still, there are countless examples of people who devote their lives to projec ts or causes for little or no monetar y return Obvious examples include figures like Fr Peter McVerr y or Greta Thunberg. The main reward for these people is that they are in their own way helping people or the environment Similarly, non profit institutions like Wik ipedia the four th most visited website in the world show what can be produced by (mostly) volunteers But it goes deeper. Recent studies (commissioned not by socialists, but the Federal Reser ve Bank of Boston) suggest that money is a good motivator when it comes to straightfor ward, mechanical tasks, and offering monetar y rewards for such work results in higher produc tivity but that ’s where it ends. When it comes to more complicated work that requires sk ills and creativity, monetar y rewards no longer produce the same results, and if anything have a negative impac t Once people don’t have to worr y about money, they can begin to focus their energies, talents and abilities. What ac tually motivates people in the work place are three other fac tors: autonomy, master y and purpose That means 1) having some control over their work ing lives, 2) developing their sk ills to the fullest potential, and 3) doing meaningful things that make a difference Life for most workers under capitalism is 40 odd mind numbing hours of drudger y under the dic tatorship of a manager, with anxiety about job security and financial woes to boot. Only a lucky minority ever experience autonomy, master y or purpose in their jobs As far as innovation goes, there’s a ver y real disincentive under capitalism to find more efficient ways of work ing, because it won’t mean better pay or less work it will eventually mean fewer jobs for workers Just think of the breakthroughs we’d have made if things were the other way around. Think of the potential we would unleash if people’s basic needs hunger, shelter, security were guaranteed and they didn’t have to worr y about merely sur viving, which is what most people’s money today is spent on. In a socialist economy, based on public ownership and democratic planning of the wealth, resources and industr y in society under workers’ control, the alienation of work under capitalism could be eradicated. The necessar y menial work could be shared out to allow ever yone to pursue lives with considerably more leisure time and work in which they can contribute to the collec tive advancement of society, as well as themselves as individuals. incentivise hard work because people are motivated by money? 1922 mar xist journal of the Socialist Par ty : S ocialist Alternative no.15 includes ar ticles on: l resisting the right wing back lash building a movement for lGbtQ liberation l imperialism & war outgrowth of global capitalist competition l the cWi & socialist feminism redressing a checkered histor y l Nor th: from ‘historic election’ to new crisis at Stormont l organising the unorganised lessons from workers past and present l universal basic income what do socialists say? l ‘ War against bolshevism’ civil war in ireland, 1922 23 l reviews of Derr y Girls, O ver the Bridge, An Cailin Ciuin’ and A Spectre, Haunting €4 / £4
Socially entrenched ideas
A decision which will contribute to increasing transphobia in a time when transphobia is already on the rise, this decision is bound to stir up a fur ther increase in transpho bia transphobic policies are sweeping the globe, with 110 anti trans bills pro posed in the uS alone from Januar y to June 2021 2021 was also the deadliest year for trans people in the uS in ireland, trans people face an ap palling trans healthcare system, with a single clinic for those over 17, for which waiting lists take up to ten years, and no public healthcare option for those under 17 they face harass ment and discrimination on the streets, in their work place and in school they face the national broad caster rte, and other media, normalis ing vile transphobic ideas lGbtQ+ inclusive rugby club, the emerald Warriors, spoke out about the irfu’s decision one par t of their state ment read, “ there is a risk that the fall out and repercussions of this polic y will accelerate into other spor ts and transphobia overall ”
feminism
by aislinn o’Keeffe l AsT mon T h a number of so cial media cor porations an nounced that they were banning the hateful lowlife Andre w Tate from their platfor ms of course, this hasn’t stopped videos of his content being uploaded across social media, par tic ular ly on T ikTok, and the recent ban has seen Tate continuing to receive a platfor m through podcast and TV in ter views, inc luding Tucker Car lson’s fox news show Andrew Tate is a kick boxer and for mer Big Brother contestant who was kic ked off the realit y show in 2016 af ter footage leaked of him abusing a woman with a belt, along with homo phobic and racist tweets He has be come viral in recent times due to the deeply misog ynistic and controversial ideolog y he pedd les to his millions of mostl y young male online followers Social media algorithms, which elevate controversy, have ensured that he has a wide reach resulting in more c licks for content creators and cor porations equating to profit for all involved Sinister ideology Thousands of inter vie w c lips of Tate are circulating online whereby he pro pounds his toxic ideolog y It is an ide olog y of male supremac y whereby women are to be subser vient and obe dient to men and whereby men have the freedom to speak and act however they wish without repercussions In some of his worst monologues he demonstrates how to subdue a woman, “slap, slap, grab, choke, shut up b*tch, sex ” In another inter view, he states that women who were raped “must bare some responsibilit y ” The 35 year old also speaks openly about his preference for dating 18 and 19 year old gir ls as they are easier to put his “ imprint ” on In addition, he belie ves that men are permitted to cheat on their female partners; however women are not even permitted to speak to other men Among his many pronouncements is his assertion that “depression isn’t real” and that instead people are simpl y “ laz y ” Tate’s treatment of other men is not much better; those who do not live up to his ideal of masculinit y are deemed failures In one instance, he re sponds to a man fundraising for his ill son by saying, “do you feel like a failure that the amount you need to help your own son is less than a quar ter than I spent on one of my five cars?”
One thing that we can find agreement on with Tate is that what he is saying is not new These deeply misog ynistic views are entrenched in capitalist soci ety, along with harmful views of what constitutes masculinit y They ser ve to justify the inequality of the system and maintain the status quo Meanwhile, men ’ s violence against women is widespread, while rates of depression are on the rise Globally, one in three women are affected by gender based violence in their lifetime, while the rate of suicide among men stands at 13 9 deaths for ever y 100,000 Misog ynists like Andrew Tate c laim they aim to help men and boy s but their message exacer bates mental health issues by encouraging them to feel ashamed rather than seek help Toxic sexist vie ws alienate men and boys from women and gir ls and train them to view other men as competitors to whom they should constantly meas ure themsel ves, deepening the alien ation that these men already feel Building solidarity It is crucial that these toxic views are in tercepted, and this task should not be left to mega corporations whose sole in tent is to make profit regardless of the consequences to society Working class organisation is the only effective means to counter this swelling tide Men must inter vene with their younger counter parts and must join women and gender non conforming people with a socialist feminist programme to organise against the toxic system which pits working class people against each other Building solidarity and community in realising that all our struggles emanate from the same source is the single most effective and empowering tool at our disposal
The socialist 11
soCiAlist
Capitalism has no answers under capitalism, a system which de pends on gender roles and stereotypes to sur vive, spor t will always be perpet uating strict gender binaries however, it is clear that these strict categories on gender simply do not work for a large section of the population Not only do they exclude trans people, but intersex people, non binar y people, even cis women with higher levels of testos terone than ‘normal’ with two Namibian runners being banned from competing in the next olympics due to their natural testosterone levels this is just another way to police women and lGbtQi+ people’s bodies to supposedly ‘protec t women’s spor ts’, when in reality it distracts from the realit y that gender equalit y in spor t, and indeed in general, is impos sible under capitalism the only way for ward is to fight for a socialist system that puts human need and health over profit, and can break with back ward gender roles, pointing to a new way for ward for spor t and society
reject viral misogynist Andrew tate & his toxic agenda
irFU must reverse its shameful decision to ban trans women athletes by aoife coppinger
The real issues for women’s spor t the irfu targeting trans women and girls also comes at a time when it has recently been under scrutiny for its treatment of women’s rugby after the senior team’s failure to qualify for the World cup in S eptember, questions began to be asked of the irfu before 2020 the women’s team re ceived €2 million compared to €28 mil lion for the men fif ty six of the countr y ’s current and former top women players wrote a letter to the irfu outlining their complete distrust and disillusionment with the leading figures in the irfu due to the under funding and overall underappreciation of the women’s game these pressures pushed the irfu to increase the fund ing for the women’s team to €4 million, still drastically behind the men the par ticipation of trans women and girls in spor t is an issue being utilised by the irfu now, but also in spor t more broadly, to deflec t from the real issues facing women’s spor t under capitalism erica Sullivan, an elite swimmer, wrote a letter in sup por t of fellow swimmer lia thomas, a trans woman, being able to compete in the american Ncaa competition one line read: “as a woman in spor ts, i can tell you that i k now what the real threats to women’s spor ts are: sexual abuse and harassment, unequal pay and re sources and a lack of women in lead ership transgender girls and women are nowhere on this list.”
O N 10 August, the IRFU announced that it is changing its Gender Par tic ipation Polic y, meaning that trans women will no longer be allowed to play contac t rugby in the female categor y There were just two regis tered trans women players at this time according to the IRFU itself this follows a decision by World rugby in 2020, making it the first inter national spor ting body to ban trans women from the women’s game the rfu in england also made a ver y simi lar polic y change just last month
Andrew Tate's vile views, which are targetting young men on social media, must be ac tively opposed
At the time of the ban’s introduc tion there were just t wo registered trans women rugby players
• End the reliance on fossil fuels keep them in the ground For extensive state in vestment in renewable energy, retrofitting homes and public buildings, and green jobs For a just transition to a zero carbon econ omy, with no job losses or regressive car bon taxes Take the fossil fuel companies, big agribusinesses and corporations into dem ocratic public ownership to stop the de struction of our planet for profit Equal rights for all • Oppose all forms of racism, sexism, homo phobia and transphobia
What the socialist party stands for: TheSocialist MarCh for health, equality & boDily autonoMy 1pm saturday 29 october, garden of remembrance to the Dáil Savita 10 Years Later ROS A Socia list Fem in ist Movem ent
• End church control of schools and hospi tals full separation of church and state For a major public works programme to build public schools, hospitals and child care facilities • For a one tier, national health ser vice free at the point of use Bring all private hospi tals, nursing homes and pharmaceutical companies into public ownership • Free publicly run childcare scheme for ever y community Extend fully paid parental leave to two years and provide high quality early years education For 24 hour free counselling ser vices and education programmes to begin to tackle the mental health crisis • Free education and training for all Abolish the Leaving Cer t system and provide a Third level place for all who want one, with a living grant for all students Build afford able, accessible student accommodation Environment
Pa P e r o f t h e S o c i a l i S t Pa r t y i S S u e 148 SePtember 2022 join The socialisT parTy www.socialistparty.ie / www.socialistpartyni.org
• A four day work week with no loss of pay Reduce the pension age to 60 A guaran teed decent pension for all No layoffs Open up the books and take large job shedding companies into public ownership under democratic workers’ con trol and management, with compensation paid only on the basis of proven need
• For a socialist feminist movement that unites the whole working class in the strug gle against oppression For workers’ unity in Ireland
• For LGBTQ inclusive, consent based sex education in schools Fully fund trans healthcare Reduce the voting age to 16 • Defend the right to asylum End Direct Provision Abolish all racist immigration laws • Black lives matter! Oppose far right division • Fight to end gender violence, abuse and harassment in all its forms
• Take the key sectors of the economy the monopolies in banking, industr y, ser v ices, agriculture and big tech into public ownership under the democratic control of the working class
• Double corporation tax End corporate welfare policies No to all forms of privatisation in health, education, transpor t, housing, energy, sani tation water and broadband provision
• Solidarity with the struggles of workers and oppressed peoples internationally • Oppose all imperialist powers, wars and occupations No to NATO and EU militarisa tion US militar y out of Shannon
• For substantial investment in an ex panded, reliable and free public transpor t system
• Replace the capitalist market with a dem ocratic socialist plan for the economy based on the interests of the over whelm ing majority of people and the environment
• Build a new mass par ty that organises workers and young people in struggle against all injustices and for a socialist alter native For a working class movement to bring about a left, socialist government that breaks with capitalism
• Provide culturally appropriate accommo dation for Travellers Nationalise the banks and repudiate the odious debt Reduce mor tgage payments to affordable levels Public services
• No to corporate “free trade” agreements No to the bosses’ EU and “For tress Europe”
• Take the wealth off the 1% For real pro gressive taxation on incomes assets and profits to fund public ser vices Stop tax avoidance and evasion by the wealthy
• For a socialist Ireland, with no coercion and the rights of minorities guaranteed, as par t of a free, equal and voluntar y socialist federation of Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales, as par t of a socialist Europe End the rule of the billionaires
“ The day has passed for patching up the capitalist system; it must go.” James Connolly was right The immense social, political and economic crises that dominate life in the 21st centur y all testify to this truth, but the climate emergenc y gives added urgenc y to its meaning That’s why the Socialist Par ty stands for revolutionar y socialist change, and why we are organising to bring it about. We suppor t ever y right and reform that can improve life for working class people, while fighting for what’s needed We say: if capitalism can’t afford to provide for our needs then we can’t afford capitalism. Workplace • All workers need double digit wage rises For a €16 an hour minimum wage • End precarity and bogus self employ ment For guaranteed hours with perma nent contracts for all workers
• Repeal the Industrial Relations Act For the right to organise and effective action For a fighting trade union movement that organises the unorganised and mobilises the power of its membership All officials should be elected, subject to recall and live on the wages of the workers they represent Housing Reduce and freeze rents at affordable lev els Ban evictions For a major programme to build public homes Take the big construction compa nies into public ownership Seize vacant proper ties and unused land being hoarded for profit
• For the unity of the working class, Protes tant and Catholic, Nor th and South, in op position to all forms of sectarianism, paramilitarism and state repression
For socialist change • Capitalism produces inequality, environ mental destruction and war We need an in ternational struggle against this system
